Device for covering graves.



PATENTED MAY 2s, i907.-

1 i A. MOMULLEN. b

DEVICE EOE COVEEING GRAVES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

,WYVNEWEVVMWWN PATENTED MAYl 28, 1907.

A. MOMULLBN. Evm F01. GOVERING GRAVES.`

APPLIOATION. FILED FEB. 4, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A T7' OHNE Y A. MOM'ULLEN.

PATEIITTED MAY 28, 1907 DEVICE EOE GOVEEING GRAVES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 1997. I

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ANDREW MOMULLEN, CF WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT.

DEVICE FR COVERING GRAVES..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1907.

Application iiled February 4, 1907. Serial No. 355,561.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW McMULLnN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Westport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, haveinvented a vnew and useful Device'for Covering Graves, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a device for use atinterments, that will conceal the box which receives the casket and Whenthe box with the casket therein is lowered into the grave willautomatically cover and wholly conceal the grave.

With this object in view I have invented the novel grave coveringdevice, of which the following description in connection with theaccompanying drawings is a specification, reference characters beingused to indicate the several parts:

Figure 1 1s a side elevation partly broken away, illustrating my novelcovering device as in use, a box, indicated by dotted lines, beinglowered to a position in which it engages the closing rod; Fig. 2 a planview corresponding with Fig. 1, a partly collapsed position of the baseframe being indicated by dotted lines; Fig. 2a a detail viewillustrating the detachable connection of the end frames to the sideframes; Fig. 3 an end view,

the covering device being shown in full lines in the position itoccupies before the box is lowered, and the box being shown in dottedlines lowered to a position in which it engages the closing rod and alsoin dotted lines at the bottom of a grave7 and the cover being shown indotted lines in the fully closed position; and Fig. 3a is a detail viewillustrating the detachable connection of one of the closing rod arms tothe end frame.

10 denotes the base frame, 1'1 side frames and 12 the end frames. Inorder that the device when not in use and for transportation may bepacked into very small compass, I make the side strips of the base frameand the side frames in two parts, make the ends frames detachable, pivotthe end strips of the base frame to the side strips thereof and providethe end strips with joints at their midlenlgth, thus making the baseframe collapsib e.

13 and 14 denote the parts of the side strips of the base frame which isuse are rigidly secured together by removable bolts or by a clip 15which may be provided with a set screw 34.

16 denotes the end strips of the base is not of the essence of theinvention.

frame which are pivoted to the ends of the side strips thereof and areprovided with joints 17 at their mid-length so that the base framecarrying the side frames with it may be closed together by folding theend strips, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The side frames comprise upper strips 18, lower strips 19 and verticalstrips 20. In practice, for the sake of compactness, strips 18 and 19are made in two parts which are secured together by clips or byremovable bolts, as indicated at 21 in Figs. 1 and 2. The side framesare connected to. the base frame by means of spring hinges 22 which areshown as set upon brackets 23 rigidly secured to the side strips of thebase frame. These hinges are ordinary stop spring hinges and act to holdthe side frame in the raised position, as in full lines in the drawings,the hinges themselves stopping the frames from being swung furtheroutward and the closing movement of the frames being against the powerof the springs.

The end frames are made from a sin le strip of metal bent to form threesides o a rectangle. In order that they may be readily attached to anddetached from the side frames and will be rigid when in place, I providefeet 24 at the ends of the strip and provide the feet with recesses 25which receive the bolts 26 by which vertical strips 20 are attached toupper and lower strips 18 and 19 of the side frames. The end frames maybe readily removed by loosening these bolts and rigidly locked to theside frames by tightening up the bolts. In the raised position, theinner ends of the end frames lap past each other, .and when moving tothe closed position they pass each other freely.

27 denotes cover frames which are made to correspond in size with theside frames and the end frames and are detachably secured thereto in anysuitable manner as by hinged catches 28. These catches are hinged to theupper and lower strips of the side and end frames and are made wi deenough so that when closed down to place they will inclose the sideorend frame and also the corresponding cover frame thereby securing thelatter in place. i The construction of the cover frames frame proper ismade of light metal and corresponds in size with the frame to which itis to be attached. This frame is covered with wire netting or othersuitable material to which evergreens or flowers are secured by The YIOO IIO

wiring, thus making of the outer sides of the side and end frames asolid mass of evergreens or iiowers. The covering of evergreens orflowers upon frames 27 is indicated by 33. In the drawings, l have shownthe coverings upon the side frames as extending below the framesthemselves so as to cover the space between the frames and the ground.The coverings upon the end frames may likewise be extended to theground.

T he closing of the frames over graves when the box is lowered iseffected by means of a closing rod 29 at one end of the device. Thisclosing rod is made in two parts so as to be extensible. These parts areheld together by means of clips 15, one or both of which are providedwith set screws 34 to lock the parts in place after adjustment. At thelower end of the closing rod is an angle piece 30 which projects intothe path of a descending box, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1.

3l denotes arms pivoted to the upper end of the closing rod and providedat their upper ends with downwardly inclined slots 35 to adapt the upperends of the arms to be dctachably engaged with pins 32 on the respectiveinner ends of the upper strips of the end frames, see Fig. 3BL inconnection with Fi 3.

/ly novel covering device is adapted for use under all of the ordinaryconditions of interment. lf the box is placed in the grave and thecasket lowered into it, the closing of the covering device would beeffected by the lowering of the casket. It makes no difference whetherthe box or casket is lowered by means of straps or by means of amechanical lowering device. Ordinarily the box is supported by crosspieces over the grave, where it is inclosed and concealed by thecovering device. The casket is placed in the box which is then closedand lowered into the grave. In adjusting the closing rod to Aa grave,the set screw 34 in the clip is loosened and the rod adjusted to such alength that l when angle piece 30 engages the bottom of the grave, theside frames will be just drawn to the closing or covering position, theend frames swinging downward into the grave, as will be readilyunderstood from Figs. l and 3. As funerals are ordinarily conducted, thegrave is left covered until the friends have gone away, after which thecovering device is removed and the grave is filled. To detach theclosing rod, one of the side frames is pressed downward, which, owing tothe shape of the slot 35 in the upper end of the corresponding arm 31,will detach said arm from the corresponding pin 32 on an end frame andthe arm will drop downward. The other arm may then be readily detachedand the closing rod given a quarter turn to disengage angle piece 30from the bottom of the box, which permits the closing rod to bewithdrawn. The end frames are then detached from the side frames byloosening the bolts 26 by which they are attached in place, which leavesthe end frames free to be removed. The side frames are then closedtoward each other by folding the end strips of the base frame, asindicated in Fi 2. 'lhe parts comprising the side strips ofthe haseframe and side frames may or may not he disconnected from each other, aspreferrml.

Having thus described my invention l. claim:

1. A device for covering graves comprising a base frame, side frames onopposite sides thereof, spring Vhinges connecting th(` side frames tothe base frame and normally retaining the side frames in the raisedposition and means operated by a descending box for .closing the sideframes over a grave.

2. A device for covering graves, comprising a base frame, side frameshinged thereto and normally retained in the raised position, coverframes having covering material thereon detachably secured to the sideframes and means operated by a descending hex for closing the sideframes and cover frames over a grave.

3. A device for covering graves, comprising a base frame, side frames onopposite sides thereof, spring hinges connecting the side frames to thebase frame and normally retaining the side frames in the raisedposition, end frames connected to theside frames and a closing rodconnected to the end frames at one end and having an angle piece adaptedto be engaged by a descending box whereby the side frames are closedover a grave, the end frames swinging downward into the grave.

4. A device for covering graves, comprising a base frame, side frames onopposite sides thereof, 'spring hinges connecting the side frames to thebase frame and normally retaining the side frames in the raisedposition, end frames connected to the sideframes, cover frames havingcovering material thereon detachably secured to the side and end frames,whereby a box over a grave is concealed and means operated by adescending box for closing the side frames over the grave, the endframes passing downward into the grave.

5. A device for covering graves comprising a base frame consisting ofside strips and end strips, ljoints at the mid-length of the end strips,so that the side strips may be closed together, side frames hinged tothe side strips of the base frame, means for retaining the side framesin the raised position and means operated by a descending box forclosing the side frames over a grave.

6. A device for covering graves, comprising a base frame consisting oftwo-part side strips detachably secured together and end strips providedwith joints at their midlength, two-part side frames hinged to the lOObase frame, end frames detachably secured to the side Jframes, wherebythe device is made compact for transportation, and means actuated by adescending box for closing the side frames over a grave.

7. A device for covering graves, comprising a base Jframe, side frameshinged thereto, end frames attached to the side Jframes and having pins32 near their upper inner corners and an adjustable closing rod havingan angle piece adapted to be engaged by a descending box, for thepurpose set orth, and having at its upper end pivoted arms whichdetachably engage the pins on the end frames., substantially asdescribed, for the purpose specified.

8. A device for covering graves, comprising a base Jframe, side frameshinged thereto, end frames attached to the side frames, cover frameshaving covering material thereon detachably connected to the side andend frames and a closing rod having arms detachably connected to theupper inner cornersof the end frames and having an angle piece adaptedto be engaged by a descending box, substantially as described, for thepurpose speciiied.

9. A device for covering graves, comprising a base frame, side frameshinged thereto,

3o end frames attached to the side trames, cover frames correspondingwith the side and end frames and having covering material thereon,hinged catches by which the cover frames are secured to the side and endframes and a closing rod adapted to be engaged by a descending vbox andhaving arms detachably connected to the end frames.

10. A device for covering graves comprising a base Jframe, side frameshinged thereto, end frames detachably connected to the side frames andhaving pins 32 near their upper inner corners and an adjustable closingrod adapted to be engaged by a descending box and havingat its upper endpivoted arms provided with downwardly inclined slots which detachablyengage the pins on the end frames.

11. A device for covering graves, comprising a collapsible base frame,side frames hinged thereto, end frames detachably connected to the sideJframes and an adjustableclosing rod d etachably connected to the endframes, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

In testimonywhereof I alix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW MGMULLEN. Witnesses:

A. M. WoosTER, S. W. ATHERTON.

